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Chapter Three: Enter The Dark Shades
It happened at Old Amoria, the student nightlife host club. In the dead of night, when the hour was high and the drinks began to pile up, mischief was an unfortunate byproduct of the club's denizens. It was usually a clean joint, as it’s run by a student organization sponsored by the University itself. It was a clean, nice place for the ladies to spend the night without a care in the world. It didn't even have the romantic atmosphere as the generic name indicated; it was just a prime hangout, where the employees were all men, and the customers almost exclusively female. There was nothing particularly shady about it--just another club that was within safe walking distance from most of the dorms, which made things much easier on the cops. On the outside, the club looked like it had come out of an old gangster movie. The electric sign that hung overhead beamed in contrast to the worn and faded walls. The resemblance to a tattered shack was uncanny, depicting the exact opposite of a happening place. Yet few could resist the allure of Old Amoria. It had a special vibe to it; whether it was the catchy jazz mixes that continually played long into the night, or the charming hosts who specialized in treating women to a good time. Still, the club wasn't without fault. A lot of trouble had come and gone throughout the years, and this night was no different. Behind the building proper, there was a place where the hosts could take a break from the heat, and smoke outside without bothering their guests. It faced a dark alley, that wasn't far from an abandoned rail yard, and only rundown factories and mills surrounded the back end of the club. The green, rusted metal door leading to the backyard flew open with a crack. Out stumbled a young man who coughed and sputtered as he groped his sides in pain. Tripping over his legs, he crashed to the ground, curling up into a ball. As soon as the door had opened, it closed. A long silence followed, as the man remained motionless on his side. Then, coming out of the darkness was the sound of soft bass. It wasn't coming from the club itself, the soundproof walls behind it blocked much of the noise. Even though the man could hear the sound, he didn't have the strength to call out for help. He could hear the footsteps, crunching against the gravel alley road. Whoever, or whatever it was, stopped next to him. Slowly, he was lifted to his feet, as he sputtered and coughed. "Hey, thanks..." The man managed to breath as he looked over to his rescuer. It was a strange young man, who was wearing sunglasses in the dead of night, and a pair of thunderously loud headphones--the man could almost catch the tune that was currently being blasted into this enigma's ears. He was eased onto one of the many wooden benches in the yard, and moaned in pain as he leaned back. "You can't even hear me, can you?" He asked with a sarcastic smile. "No, I can hear you just fine." The man clad in shades replied, standing directly in front of him. "Well, thanks..." The man let out another hideous cough. "Take it easy, I just have some questions for you." He asked, placing a reassuring hand on the man's shoulder. "Are you a student? Do you know who attacked you? Do you know why they attacked you? Where do you live? Are you drunk?" The string of questions emerged so mechanically, and precisely, the man felt as if he were being interrogated by a private detective. Working through the pain, he slowly answered each question. "Yeah, I go to the U, I work here y'know? Been a host for nearly five months now. I don't know who that fucker was, or what they wanted. I was just on my way to taking a break. In fact, I was taking a piss when the bastard came behind me and beat me from behind. Didn't get a good look at 'em though. I live on campus, in a quad, and it's against club rules for the hosts to get drunk." As each answer came, Dark Shades nodded. "Stay here, I'll be back." As he walked away, the man beckoned him back. "Wait, who are you?" The man adjusted his shades. "Dark Shades." Was all he said. It rarely happened that a man would walk through the entrance of Old Amoria, and even more so by himself. Yet it was even more shocking to the greeter when a shaggy haired, shade-wearing delinquent came strolling through the front doors, moving to the pace of his noise-cancelling headphones. His head was covered by the veil of a brown hooded sweatshirt that looked frayed and worn. "Whoa there, you can't just walk in here buddy." The greeter moved to stop him, but Dark Shades merely raised his hand to stop him. "Just one question, is Ja in?" He asked, the greeter pausing for a moment. "I'll go check. Hey, is Ja in? Some shady guy is here to see him!" He snapped at one of the hosts passing by, and he nodded. "I'll take a look in the office." After a few minutes the host returned. "Yeah, he's in. But he wants to know who's asking." Dark Shades turned slightly. "Tell him Dark Shades is here." His words were always quiet, and almost inaudible behind the backdrop of the murmuring bass and the giggling laughter of the female guests. Despite the rumors, plenty of perfectly attractive women came to the club; yet, the circular booths were well hidden by drawn curtains that reached up to the ceiling. It was quite disappointing. The club had a brilliant piano man too, who had begun to play as the host returned again. There was a look of amusement on his face as he gestured to the mysterious young man. "Okay, okay, he'll see you now." They walked through the red carpet hall, occasionally passing a booth, or a tiny bar. Old Amoria's success was credited to its ability to cater to many customers, while maintaining a small town feel. They came into an office at the end of the hall, and just beyond a fogged glass door was an Asian man. He was dressed in a fine white suit and was wearing glasses. He stood from his chair when Dark Shades entered, and the two smiled as they exchanged a friendly handshake. "How are you my friend? Take a seat. Close the door." Ja instructed as the two sat down across from each other. "I am doing well, how about you? Being the president of such a popular club!" Dark Shades praised, easing into his chair with a stretch. They laughed for a time. "Why are you here, Ryan?" Ja asked working around his office, stacking papers, and checking his computer. The piano continued to roll on. "I found one of your employees out back, he's beaten to hell." Ja scowled for a moment. "Why didn't you call the police?" He asked and Ryan chuckled as he shook his head. "I don't like the cops. I thought I'd let you do that. But uh, he said that he got attacked in the bathroom." The club president nodded slowly, reaching for the office phone. "Thanks for the tip." "That's not all. This isn't the only incident that happened in a bathroom recently." Ja paused for a moment. "What do you mean?" "I mean to say, there have been many cases like this. Some guy got beat at up at Riverside a few weeks ago. Another guy at a frat house a while later. The targets have been so sporadic that the police haven't caught on yet." Ja nodded."I'll let them know, thanks again." "One more thing. Do you think I could go check out your staff bathrooms? I want to look around myself." His friend shrugged. "Sure, I guess, go for it." He handed Ryan a key. "Make sure you return it." Ryan smiled as he pointed at Ja and nodded. "You got it boss." Just as he exited from the office, a girl was waiting. She had her long brown hair tied up in a ponytail, and was sporting a sleeveless white top and a pair of blue jeans. "I thought I saw you pass a while ago." He turned, removing his headphones slightly. "What was it you just said?" He asked, and she gave him a vexing smile as she pushed him playfully. "Oh stop it, I know you heard! C'mon, what are you doing here?" She pressed and he sighed, slightly shoving her away. "None of your business troublemaker." He replied sternly and she frowned. "Ryan, come on, tell me!" "Keia, why don't you go back and have fun with your girlfriends? I'm just doing plain old boring things as usual." "Oh come on, I only said that one time!" "An elephant never forgets, and neither do I." "So what? Do you come here often?" He began to move towards the staff area, much to the surprise of some of the hosts who were busy working on preparing food and drinks to bring to the tables. "What? Are you insinuating that I'm gay?" He asked, as she hovered behind him. "No! Of course not! I'm just curious. You've been so mysterious lately. With your dark sunglasses and your noisy headphones." She jeered and he sighed, stopping right outside of the staff kitchen. "Okay, if you really want to follow me, be my guest, but I'm not going to bail you out if you get into trouble." He warned sternly and she smiled brightly in return. "Ha! Me? Trouble? Please." He rolled his eyes underneath his sunglasses. "Just stay cool, Queen Frostine." As they passed through the kitchen, one of the chefs gave them a dirty look, to which Dark Shades raised the master key, that carried the indistinguishable mark of the club's insignia. The chef shrugged and returned to his work. "Ho, ho, you've got con~nections!" Ryan sighed again. "It just so happens that I am very good friends with the president of this club." "Hey, don't act all annoyed around me...I might start to think that you don't like me." She poked him in the back and he shook his head. "Come on, stop saying such weird things." "Says the guy who's wearing suspicious sunglasses in the dead of night." "Sheesh, you're lively as always." They passed into the employee bathrooms. The lights flickered slightly over the dirty mirrors. While the guest bathrooms were clean and well kept, the staff room was less the case. They had come into the men's room, which was currently unoccupied and surprisingly the same size as a normal public bathroom: A couple of stalls, a number of urinals, and always beset with the sound of dripping water. "So what, are you looking for something?" Akeia asked and he raised his hand to silence her. At the end of the room, near the last stall, the lights had flickered, and then turned completely off. The sound of dripping water wasn't coming from the sinks he realized, but rather from something at the end of the room. Keia grabbed his arm suddenly. "Wait, I have a bad feeling about this." Her usual cheerful tone was replaced with stern caution. This wasn't the first time that she had had a 'bad feeling', and he knew better than to take it lightly. He took a few steps forward, his eyes focused on the half open door of the last stall. How could it be that someone was attacked in the bathroom, dragged through the kitchen, and thrown out of the back door without being noticed? He crept closer and closer to the stall, the sound of dripping water growing louder and louder. Keia hovered tentatively a few steps behind him. "You feel it too don't you? You're always talking about strange presences and things, right?" She asked and a smile breached Ryan's face. "Yes, I can feel it. It's here...somewhere.. hiding...waiting. For me? Are you waiting just for me?" He called out, raising his voice, and suddenly, the dripping stopped. The light over the mirror began to flicker, before it stabilized. Keia shuddered slightly. "Uhh, creepy. You know, I heard that flashing lights is a sign that wayward spirits are trying to commune with you." "Whatever it was, it's gone now...maybe." They left the bathroom, and made their way back to the club proper. "That was it? That's all you wanted to do?" She asked and he sighed again, this time maintaining an endearing smile. "You were scared, admit it." He said and she shook her head profusely. "Not really, it's just that sometimes, oh well forget it." She said passing him quickly. "Like you said, I should go back to my 'little' girlfriends." His brow furrowed slightly. Whenever Keia made hasty decisions, it usually meant that she was hiding something. "Be very careful." He warned sternly, and she smiled. "Oh come on, don't try to scare me now!" She quickly waved, and ran off to get into more trouble he suspected. Still, he was worried. There was something there in the bathroom, waiting. If he had taken a few more steps, if he had opened that door, what would he have found there? What sort of creature could do that to a man, without anyone noticing? He wasn't the most astute observer, but he had noticed the tiled ceiling. Could it have gone through there? He returned to Ja, and didn't speak of the ominous presence, leaving the police work for the authorities. Afterwards, he left the club through the backdoor. It was at the very end of the kitchen area, near the coolers, where they stored drinks and food. He had one question he most desperately wanted to ask that man, but as he came out of the door, he found the bench to be vacated. The man was gone. * * * For the first time in a while, the entirety of the Zach Carter "cohort" was assembled as per usual in the back corner of Japanese class. "Wow, that punk, I can't believe he's the president of Old Amoria!" Zach Carter stated, slamming his fist into his palm. "That's not really the point of the story." Ryan replied, still donning his shades and headphones. "So what are you, some kind of ghost hunter or something, you! Being all cool with your Dark-Shades and your headphones!" "Hm? What did you say?" Ryan asked. "I think it was something to do with lions." Ix chimed in, enjoying a can of cold juice. "I know you can hear me!" Zach said, trying to reach out and remove his headphones. "But that sure sounds creepy." Serah said, glancing over at Zach for a moment. "Yeah, I heard that something had happened at...the dorms was it?" He asked and Ryan nodded. "Finding a ghost in the bathroom of a club, is almost as ridiculous as a sunglasses-wearing student acting as a private detective. I mean...seriously, what's up with that?" Ix asked and Ryan shrugged. "I tell it how it is." "Yeah, okay, Mr. badass." "You guys, I still don't feel so well." For the past couple of days, Lydia had been struck with what had appeared to be a normal fever. "Have you been getting enough sleep?" Zach asked and she sighed. "Yes! I haven't been able to do much else!" "Perhaps you are being assailed by some kind of specter or ghost?" The girl let out an exasperated sigh. "At this rate, I feel like I'll never recover. I think...I think I should go home and rest some more." She said, standing up. "Aw, poor Lydia, maybe you should go see a doctor." Serah suggested and the others nodded in agreement. "Yeah, maybe you're right. Maybe it's more than just a common cold." "So, Mr. Ryan, do you really believe in all that...spiritual ghost stuff?" Ix asked and Dark Shades took off his shades momentarily to rub his eyes. "Believe? I don't believe in anything." He stated in his usual quiet tone. "Oh come on, what kind of answer is that? Stop being so, un-confrontational." Zach said as he threw a few imaginary punches at Ryan. "Mm, on another note, I think it's going to rain soon." "Ah, that sucks. It's been so nice lately." Zach paused, and then he hit Ryan on the side again. "Punk, where have you been? I hardly saw you during spring break, and then you ditch class because you're creeping around at night doing shady things!" "What? I haven't been doing anything shady, clearly...I'm the hero!" He said with a broad smile, puffing out his chest. "Yeah right!" "Anyways...today might be the last nice day for a while. Maybe we should do something." Ryan suggested. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." So the remaining members of the Zach Carter "cohort" spent the rest of the day outside. "I wish I had gotten more sleep..." Ix complained. "Let's go get something to eat!" "My stomach knows no bounds!" "Yeah, okay." "I have a black hole for a stomach, doncha know?" "I’m getting too old for this...” “Says the loli~ oh, oh ho ho...” Messenger -Group Chat room established- "The lions, lions, everywhere Cohort" Zach: Hello, is anyone on? -Ja has been added to the group- Zach: What the hell? No! Get..get out of here! Ja: Why. Ryan: Whahaha! Zach: Punk! Why don't you just go live at the mall! You work for a school you don't even go to. Ja: wat? you know...I'm my own man. Ryan: Yeah! Stand up for what you believe in! Zach: Stop taking his side! You always take his side ! Ja: Here, have a (d) Zach: Nooo! Ja: and I will (handshake) Zach: Stop, those emoticons are sooo stupid! Ja: Then we can just ¥o/ Ryan: Hahahaha! Yesss! Yesss! Zach: How'd you even become the president of that stupid club?! Ja: it's cause i treat the ladies nice man has disconnected Zach: what. Zach: the. Ryan: Vocaloids Zach: hell. Zach: Wait, what?! Lydia: Ugh. Here I thought I'd actually get something done today! Serah: Aww, poor Lydia... Zach: Stop dying! Lydia: I'm going to the doctor tomorrow -.-' ' Ryan: You will get better, I am sure of it. Lydia: I hope so Zach: well Zach: Coming to half the class, is better than not coming at all Zach: I guess. Lydia: It's not my fault I'm sick! Really though, I should've been better by now... Ryan: Indeed, that's very mysterious...8-) Lydia: Huh...what's with that face? Ryan: It's cause I'm Ryan Dark-Shades, you know? Zach: Yeah, mr...go creeping out at night Ix: No kidding, that's a very bad habit Mr. Ryan. Ryan: Come on guys, I'm pretty cool right? Zach: I'd say...more like weird. Ix: Well, I think it's time I go get some dinner. Zach: Gosh Ix, why do you eat dinner so late?! Ix: It's just how it is. Ryan: Don't worry, the universe will stay in balance. Zach: What is that supposed to mean? Ryan: It means that someone probably eats dinner super early to compensate. Zach: Oh my god what the hell? Lydia: Hopefully I see you guys next class...I think I'm going to get some rest .-. Serah: Bye...feel better! signed off Ryan: Welll I better go sign off as well. I've got some business to...take care of. Zach: Yeah...go out stalking people again mister dark...shades! Ryan: you know it! signed off He paused as he stared at the computer screen for a while. A smile crossed his face as he picked up his shades and headphones. "Well Nalani, who's next?"